Furthermore, the ITBS is timed because a student is allowed so much time for each subject, which gives the institution specific days to craft out for their learners to take it without interfering with their studies and the amount of hours needed in the classroom in order to satisfy the education requirements of the state. People in general are able to see where they are at through their ranking and to consider what areas they need to improve on and for parents to work with teachers so that success occurs. Since everyone is on different levels, this allows individuals to see where they are at and to continue to make improvement through the practical aspect of it (University of Iowa, 2011).
Is the assessment biased toward certain groups of people? Explain.
This assessment can have some level of bias present with it. Some students are favored more than others because of the generality of it. Anything that is not academic can randomly get put in it for those children who come from parents who have a higher socioeconomic status. For those who put it together, they strived to ensure that the easy questions are eliminated in order to make it as fair as possible. Furthermore, the goal is to eradicate the inquiries that favor minority students. Whatever the case, people are human and bound to have bias in it because it is a part of our nature. Through this experience, one learns what is acceptable as well as not based off the results from the measurement (Fair Test, 2007).
What type of data driven decisions are made from this assessment?
Much is worth noting in regards to data driven decisions from the ITBS. The school district is able to look at the areas of weakness for the students, and adapt their curriculum in the years to come. They can make literacy a priority because those with rough backgrounds are able to improve in this area besides foreign language students. Anyone who struggles in the math and sciences, they can enforce this by having more activities on these subjects, such as an annual fair for competition purposes in order to encourage learning and understanding. These are ways in which the ITBS...
As a result, people will improve in their skills as well as become better academics through the years (Cradler, 2008). Conclusion
The ITBS is widely used in the United States for testing the general skills of students. This is a standardized achievement test that consists of multiple choice questions and is timed. Schools are able to find out where they are ranked and the apprentice as well in order to seek areas in which to improve their scores. Norm-testing is used to compare how each learner is doing, and for the teacher to adapt the curriculum accordingly. However, the assessment is used to determine the developmental level of a student and to improve instruction in the institutional setting. Since everyone is human, one is bound to make errors when putting together a test. Sometimes the minorities or those with a higher economic status are favored. The creators of the test also strive to leave out the easy questions, so that the inquiries are fair for all students who take it. Through schools, parents and teachers who administer this test, they are able to save revenue and little to no training is needed to oversee it. Over time people learn from each other, and everyone involved becomes a success, which makes all their efforts worth it. One may not see it right away, but through patience and time the end results is valuable.
References
BrainChild. (2011). ITBS Online assessment and instruction. Retrieved April 10, 2011, from BrainChild: http://www.brainchild.com/statepages/StatePages.aspx?state=IA.
Cradler, J. (2008). Data-driven decision making and electrong learning assessment resources .
Retrieved April 10, 2011, from ELAR: http://www.clrn.org/elar/dddm.cfm.
Fair Test. (2007, August 17). Norm-referenced achievement tests. Retrieved April 10, 2011, from Fair Test: http://fairtest.org/norm-referenced-achievement-tests.
University of Iowa. (2011). Iowa Test for Basic Skills. Retrieved April 10, 2011, from University
of Iowa: http://www.education.uiowa.edu/itp/itbs/itbs_about.aspx.
